


Intruder

by flailswildly



Category: Smallville
Genre: Dark-ish, F/M, Kidnapping, POV First Person, POV Third Person, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, bizarro was a dick, make better choices lana
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 11:55:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7314238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flailswildly/pseuds/flailswildly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"you will never save her..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Legacies of a misspent youth, I just found all of my old Smallville fanfic and now AO3 pays the price.

**Before**

_My name is Clark Kent and this is my death._

_This is not how I expected it to end. I always thought there would be more. More life, more laughter, more pain...just more. I'd only just begun learning, figuring out who I was, **what** I was. It's not fair, it's never been fair._

_I look up into her face, memorizing every shadow, every line. The darkness of those eyes, the fullness of her lips, soaking it all in even as the night claims the edges of my sight. She's killed me, I know that and still I can't hate her for it. She's doing the only thing she knows how to do. I have always known she was capable of it, it was what made me fall in love with her in the first place. Her eyes fill with tears and I'm drowning in them._

_I can't let it end like this, no matter what else we have come to, I can't let it end like this. Even as the power consumes me I try to convey all of my forgiveness to her the only way I know how. The way she taught me to. "I love you." Even as I whisper these last words my eyes drift past her to him._

_This was all his fault, we both know it. Just as we both know that he will never love her the way I do, if he ever did. To him she's a means to an end, a pawn in the never ending games he plays with himself. Even as our eyes lock I feel the love filling me turn to hate, but that hate is tinged with a certain amount of pleasure. He's destroyed the only happiness I have ever known in my entire life but I have stolen the one thing from him that he truly needs even if he is too damn stupid to see it now. For all his invulnerability he has a weakness and when he finally wakes up and realizes what I've done to that weakness it will break him._

_My lips twist onto a mocking smirk as I take what enjoyment I can from the knowledge of his pending despair even as the blue Kryptonite rips it's way through me, taking me apart molecule by molecule. As the encircling dark closes in, snuffing out my all too brief existence I can't help but gloat. He's lost and he doesn't even know it. Through gritted teeth I spit out the last words I will ever say, knowing he will never figure them out until it is far too late._

_"you will never save her..." and then everything thing is black._


	2. Chapter 2

**Then...**

Okay, her head was killing her. Actually pain seemed to pretty much been the theme of her reality at the moment. She tried to focus past the dull throbbing that she regrettably recognized as the after effect of the yet other head trauma. What the f**k…I was just meeting an informant.

This is just getting ridiculous. Lois slowly slitted her eyes open and began the difficult process of trying to figure out what was wrong with this scenario. As the dull pain in her head slowly faded into the background it was joined by an equally throbbing pain radiating from her shoulders. Which would make sense she realized, as her arms were stretched up above her head. She tried to jerk her hands down but was thwarted by the fact that her writs seemed to be held together by some sort of restraint, and that was connected to a chain that seemed to bolted to the ceiling. She figured it had to be a chain as her movements caused her entire body to sway slightly. At least she assumed it was that and not the effects of yet another concussion since she couldn't see a damn thing as the room around was encased in darkness.

"oh f**k me.." She muttered slowly as she tried to writhe her way free from the cords holding her to whatever it was she was hanging from.

"Oh let’s not rush things shall we." The voice was low, husky, almost alien yet somehow familiar, it was also coming from the darkness directly in front of her. Lois froze immediately, cold fear slicing it’s way through her nervous system. "Please, don’t stop on my account." He continued in a languorous drawl. " I was really enjoying the floor show. "

Suddenly his hands were on her waist and his breath was hot on her neck as he whispered in her ear. "He always did enjoy the way you moved. So it looks like, despite all evidence to the contrary, he does have some taste." He was so close that the scent of him, all spice and musk, hot in her throat and again strangely familiar, was tainting the air Lois was desperately sucking into her lungs as she battled the ancient instincts of flight vs fight, neither of which was an option at the moment. The adrenaline of primal battle revved up with no place to go making her shake like a over run race horse, despite every fiber of being demanding she stay still, try to regain some small measure of self control. Lois swallowed and closed her eyes so tightly they began to tear, this was not happening. She was a Lane and Lane’s…Lane’s…Oh fuck.

Seizing the tattered remains of her courage Lois opened her eyes and glared into the darkness were the excessive body heat that was radiating off him told her he stood, his breath hot on her cheek.

"So personals not working out for you? Really? Seriously, are you this desperate for a date? Have you tried Craig’s list?" The snark might have been ill advised but it was the only weapon she had in her arsenal at the moment. She could get out of this if she could just get to him, she just needed to take control of the situation. Okay yeah so she was in a pitch black room hanging from the ceiling by her wrists with some weird guy going all Jigsaw on her but … Oh crap. No, she could get out of this.

"You always were mouthy," he was behind her now his body flush against hers, his erection fully evident, as his fingers trailed along her abdomen. "He likes that about you, me not so much." His lips pressed against the back of her neck, trailing their way to her left shoulder. "Now your scent that is something we can both agree on, especially now. Lois has anyone ever told you that you smell delicious when you’re terrified?" He rumbled and again Lois was stuck by just how familiar his voice was.

_Wait, how does he know my name?_

"Do I know you?" It came out far more breathlessly then she’d intended but then again she had neither whimpered nor wet herself so she still counted it as one in the win column. A cold male chucked was her only answer as he ran his hands down her thighs, her bare thighs. Lois eyes widened in shock as she suddenly realized that she was wearing only a tank top and her panties. This time she could not help it and a whimper forced it’s way past her clenched teeth.

"Oh Lois, this is going to be so much fun. My only regret is that he will never know. I wish he could be here for every whimper, every scream, then maybe he would finally realize just what it is he walked away from. But not. just. yet." Then as suddenly as his presence was there it was gone. The next time his voice cut through the darkness he was farther away, "I have learned to enjoy the pleasures of anticipation."

Lois hung, every muscle in her body tensed, waiting his return. Too terrified to even think, every part of her that mattered huddled in a corner of her mind gibbering in equal parts denial and fear, too scared to even begin to hope that he was really gone.

**Now**

My name is Clark Kent and this is my life.

As I lay here trapped in bed with a woman I can barely even look at, let alone touch, I have to ask myself. How did this happen?

I always thought there would be more. More love, more understanding, more of a connection...Just more.

She was supposed to know. Of all of the people in my life, she was supposed to notice something was wrong. And actually she did notice something was different, noticed it and preferred it. How does that happen?

The ceiling is starring down at me mockingly, knowing all too well what happened in this bed while I was trapped at the fortress. This is just gross, I can't lay here another second. Not knowing he lay here, that THEY lay here doing.... damnit.

I get up out of the bed and grab a pillow before heading to my room, I don't even care that she's still awake. It may be a little vindictive of me but I figure I owe her a little pain at this point. As I close the door to my bedroom I can't help but feel as if an enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I head over to my bed and crash face first into it's softness. God it has been one messed up, exhausting day.

Christ, this is not how it's supposed to be, is it? I'm drifting off when I catch the faint whiff of a familiar shampoo. Lois. No matter how many times I wash these sheets they always end up smelling like her. The curse of super smell I guess. Hell the entire room does and while I would rather tortured with krytonite and bad karaoke before I'd admit it, for some sick reason it's that one little detail out of a million others that makes it smell like home. As I drift off I can help but laugh a little. Lois Lane, epic and continual pain in my ass that she is, has became such a fixture in my life in the past three, almost four years, that when I think of home I think of her. How does she do that?


	3. Chapter 3

**Then...**

Lois had no idea how long she hung there alone in the dark, she'd lost all track of time.

There was no light, no sound, the air was still and stale. She was sore, tired, terrorized, possible suffering from yet another concussion and oh yeah, serious pissed off. Who the fuck did "Jigsaw" think he was? What did she do to deserve this? She'd been hanging there racking her brain trying to figure out who in her life would hate her so much that they would do this. Okay so maybe the first hour or so she's spent sobbing and praying for salvation but you can only panic for so long before you just can't keep it up any longer. Once you get there your only option is to start thinking your way out. First off, unmask the bad guy.

If Scooby-doo had taught her nothing else, it was that when you took off the monsters mask they lost their power. Top on her list of possible serial killer/scumbags was Lex of course, but this whole torture porn thing was just not his style. Anonymous hit man on dark night? Yes, in a heart beat. Kidnapping and torture for shits and giggles? Not so much. Lionel Luther was also on the list but ever since he'd developed his little man crush on Clark he'd been down graded to mostly harmless. There was that sleazy guy who'd tried to ship her overseas a couple of years ago. Maybe he'd sold her to some torture freak as revenge for her making him close up shop in Metropolis?

No, this guy, whoever he was... He KNEW her. Everything about him seemed so familiar, so intimate, like she'd known him forever. Like they were close. So while she was fairly certain that the creepy Czech could do this, she was equally certain that this time around it wasn't him. And who was the other guy? The one Jigsaw kept talking about. The one who liked her moves and big mouth? Was it Grant? Was Jigsaw someone who knew him? Or was it someone who knew Oliver? Ollie had been an enigma even during the good times, who knew what skeletons were hiding in the Queen closet.

God it was frustrating! Who would want her this dead? The last person to make an attempt on her life was Wes and he was gone. Not to mention even if he was capable of something like this, there was never anyway in hell Wes would ever do it to her. No matter what Lex and his pet Mengele's did to him. Not that mattered since Wes was gone, dead because of Lex. Which brought her back to the name at the top of her list. Who she had already ruled out. Fuck, she was just going in circles. Fine, if she couldn't figure out who Jigsaw was then she'd do the next best thing and get out of here before he came back. Only problem was she had no idea how to do that or when he'd be back. No matter. She was a Lane. She could do this. Never give up, never surrender. Wait. Where did she know that from?

Oh crap it was true sign of how desperate you were when your mantra comes from a Tim Allen movie. _I am well and truly fucked._

**Now**

I wake up feeling great, comfortable and relaxed, the feeling lasts about a minute and a half. That would be when the super hearing kicks in and I heard Lana shift and moan softly in her sleep from my parents room across the hall. This really sucks.

Chores were only going to take so long, especially with the whole superpowers and then what? Spend the rest of the day starring at Lana in silence across the kitchen table? Hide out in the loft? She's going to want to talk, I just know it.

What can she say? What can I say that won't tear this house of cards down on top of us? I can't look her in the eyes and yet I don't know if I am ready for us to be over. I waited for so long for us to be an us, no secrets, no lies and to just give up on us? Can I do that? After everything she's suffered because of me am I even allowed to do that? God, I wish my parents were here. Mom, she'd know what to do. She always knew what to do.

No matter how lost I get on my way to becoming whoever it is I'm meant to be, she's always pointed me in the right direction. And Dad... No I can't go there. Not after... Nope I really can't go there. Too much lost and looking back not enough gained to even begin to justify it. Especially now. Who else can I talk to? Chloe? She'd just tell me to get on the whole flying thing and be a hero. God did she really think it was that easy? Just go and save the day Clark. Do your thing. Don't worry about having a life or falling in love or anything that makes life you know, actually worth living. She was getting as bad as Oliver with that stuff. They couldn't know how hard it was for me; despite their abilities or callings, they were still human. Chloe and Oliver had that innate connection with every other human on the planet, whether they knew it or not. They had a place where they belonged, it was written in their DNA.

Me? Not so much.

Everyday it seems I have to fight to fit in, to find a safe harbor and connection with the world around me. Ever time I turn around it seems there is yet another thing reminding me I just don't belong, that no matter how hard I try I am never going to. I bury my face in my pillow and try to will the universe to go away. That's when it hits me again, just like it did last night, Lois's scent. Imprinted on my pillow and on my life, just like she was. She was the one person I could always count on to keep my straight. She might not be the most tactful person on the planet but she also didn't let hero worship stop her from calling me a dumb-ass. Even those few times she's found about my abilities she's still been Lois and I can't help but feel a sharp stab of regret at the fact that the universe seems to conspire to take those moments away from me. Would it really be that bad if Lois Lane knew the truth about me? I bet if she knew the truth about me, Lana, and Bizarro she'd completely be on my side. Crap. This day is going to suck and laying around in bed is not going to stop it from sucking any less. The longer I stay here the more likely it is Lana will wake up find me for "the talk" and I am just not ready to deal with that.

I wonder what Lois is doing for lunch today?


	4. Chapter 4

**Then...**

Her toes were just barely brushing the floor, leaving her with very little leverage to work with but for what she had planned it was enough. Arching her feet as much as she could she extended every muscle in her body, stretching her bound wrists and sweat drenched hands as far up possible. Every muscle twitching in exertion as she reached as far as she could, Lois prayed to whoever might be listening that it was enough. Just an inch, that's all I need. Just an inch...please... As her fingers brushed the cold metal of the hook that held her restraints Lois almost wept in relief.

_Oh thank god..._

Using the little bit of height she'd gained Lois gripped the dip on the hook and held on for dear life. Even though she held on with a death grip, she felt her body relax. Okay, she just might be able to do this. Using her weight Lois began to swing the chain back and forth, with each swing she'd thrust her legs out in front of her. Please let me be near a wall. Back and forth she swung, with swing getting consecutively faster and more violent. Please...

Then just when she was begin to think it was hopeless her feet slammed into what could only be a wall. A hard wall. _Yes!!! And ouch!!!_

With the next swing Lois put her back in to it and when her feet connected with the wall a second time she used her weight to push herself up and away, reaching up with her hands to make a grab for the chain above the hook. As her fingers wrapped around the rough metal of the chain Lois felt a surge of triumph. See, Lane's can get out of anything! Her victory however was short lived as the chain slipped out of her sweat drenched hands. Lois plunged to the ground with a ruthless thud and as her head connected with the hard floor and blunt force trauma claimed her conscience for the second time in as many days she had one thought. _Ha...I win._

**Now**

I'm always a little intimidated when I walk into the Daily Planet. The paper may no longer be in it's glory days but that didn't stop it from being one of the most respected news organizations in the country. The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Daily Planet, all three making up the holy trinity of journalism. It still amazes me that not one but two of my friends work here.

Lois and Chloe are both so far ahead of me on the whole getting a real life game it's not even funny. I always knew Chloe was destined for the Planet, she'd been on a collision course with it sense first grade. But Lois? She's stormed the gates in less then a year. Passing by hundreds of other hopefuls on talent, determination and the dubious credentials she'd gained from her time at The Inquisitor. What have I done with my life? The only thing that has changed for me since high school is my living arraignments. And I really don't count my current relationship with Lana as one in the win column.

What? I sent the zoner's back? It was my fault that that they escaped in the first place. My entire life seems to revolve around picking up Kryptonian messes and it doesn't seem like that is going to change anytime soon. How's that any different then the time I have spent going after meteor freaks when I was still in high school? When I take everything I've done in my life that is not related to the whole last member of a destroyed alien civilization thing and stack it up against everything Lois & Chloe have accomplished in the same amount of time and in the case of Lois with even fewer resources? I may be the one with super powers but they both amaze me sometimes.

I can't help but feel a spring in my step as I head down to the basement offices where she works with Chloe and all of the other junior reporters. This is just what I need, an afternoon of Lois's caustic wit will distract me from all of the Lana drama my life is currently drowning in. Expect I walk up to her desk and it's empty.

Okay this is weird. Her computers not even turned on and her desk is not littered with the usual half a dozen empty latte cups she drinks in a day. It's like she didn't even show up for work today and that is not something even remotely possible for Lois Lane. She does not een belie in sick days. I have personally witnessed coming into work with a concussion, two broken ribs and the being of walking pneumonia.

I glance around with my x ray vision but still nothing, her purse is not even in her desk. I'm frowning when I make my way over to Chloe's desk. I figure she is as close to Lois as anyone, if anything is going on she can tell me. She looks up from where she sitting and I notice she's on the phone, and she looks worried. This can not be good.

"Okay, thanks. Call me if you hear anything." Chloe hangs up and gives me a small smile, she raises her eyebrows as she sees the bag I'm holding. "Clark? Did you bring me lunch? How sweet!"

"Uh yeah, here." I hand her the bag containing Lois's sandwich. Does Chloe even like ham and cheese? "So who where you on the phone with?'

She looks up from where she was investigating the contents of the bag looking worried again. "I was talking to Uncle Sam." She pulls out the sandwich and gives it a dubious look. "Ham and cheese?"

"Yep. You mean it's not your favorite?" Why are we talking about sandwiches? "So Uncle Sam as in government contacts or..."

"Uncle Sam as in my Uncle Sam. I was seeing if he'd heard from Lois at all in the past few days." "Why?" I ask, though this is Lois so there's usually one consistent answer. "Lois has not been home for the past two days." Chloe replies with a grave look in her eyes slightly tinted by guilt.

Yeah it's what I thought. Crap Lane, why did you have to go missing just when I needed to hang out? It's like she has a six sense for what she terms my "moping". Which it's not, I am just introspective that's all. Is it a crime to want to understand why life keeps kicking you while you're down? I'm pretty caught up in my thoughts but Chloe doesn't seem to notice. It's like she's had all of this worry building in her for the last two days and suddenly she needed it out, now.

"I was sure she was out on a story but I checked with the interum editor and that is a no go. Then I thought maybe she took the time to talk to Grant, to you know say goodbye and stuff? You knew about them right? I think she told me she told you. So I thought, okay maybe she's saying goodbye. I mean the guy was no prince charming but cute and good to Lois and he did just get ...you know, but then she didn't call all Sunday and then she didn't show up for work today and, and..." Chloe turns the full force of her panicked green eyes on me "Clark, I think something might have happened to her."


	5. Chapter 5

**Then...**

_Oooww._ Lois slowly pried herself off of the cold tile floor she'd recently made an uncomfortable acquaintance with. _Okay, maybe I could have planned that a little better_.

She gingerly ran her still bound hands across her brow, wincing as her gentle exploration of her head brought her fingers into contact with a large gash across her forehead running up into her hairline. Lois frowned, _how did the hell did I get this one?_   When she fell from where she'd been hanging she'd hit the back of her head and before then...

She remembered she'd been meeting a contact outside the back entrance of the club Atlantis late Saturday night. They'd said they had definite proof that Lex was behind a vast conspiracy to clone an army of super soldiers. She'd been skeptical at first, then her contact had emailed her files that looked like they'd been copied from the Luthor Corp mainframe and add that to her recent encounter with "Adrian" and she was willing to at give them a listen.

She remembered being out back by the dumpsters waiting until "Bizzaro", her contacts colorful self chosen tag, showed when someone had grabbed her from behind and forced her head first into the wall. Well that certainly explained the head wound.  
           

For one brief moment Lois wondered if perhaps "Bizzaro" and "Jigsaw" could be the same guy. It was possible, though she had been fairly certain before the meeting that "Bizzaro" was one Miss Lana Lang. The evidence she'd been sent had born a strong resemblance to the files Lana had tried to force on her and Grant back when she was hopped up on super juice or whatever that crap had been.  _You know, Lana still hasn't apologized for the whole kicking me through a plate glass window thing. What was up with that? Bitch. Wait, focus Lane. Bizzaro. Right._  
  
So if Bizzaro wasn't Lana then it could very well be that he was Jigsaw but that still did not get her any closer to the sickos real identity. _Great more circles inside circle_ , she thought in annoyance. _I'm going no where with this, time to get the hell out of Dodge._

 "This was so not how I would've chosen to spend my weekend." Lois muttered to herself as she forced her sore and weary body to stand. As she became fully vertical she felt a hot wave of nausea that forced her to drop her head down between her knees. Good thing she'd not eaten before her impromptu kidnapping, if she had her and her stomach had it's way, it would be all over the floor. Well that answer the question if she has a concussion or not. _My insurance rates are going to go through the roof at this rate._

After a few deep breaths the nausea subsided and Lois again resumed her relationship with being vertical, though this time at a admittedly much slower rate. Once she was again upright she held her arms out in front of her, picked a direction and began walking. Eventually she'd hit a wall then all she had to do was follow said wall to a door and she be home free. Piece. Of. Cake.  
All she had to do was not pass out. She could totally do this.  
  
**Now**

It didn't take Chloe long to get me on board with the Lois in danger theory. I mean it's Lois, when is she not blindly charging head first into dangerous situations with no plan in place on how to get out? I know she calls it "winging it", I call it "reckless endangerment". Then again it's just one of the many things we agree to disagree on. And while yes I'm very worried, I have to admit prying Lois out of whatever situation she has currently gotten herself into sounded like it could be very time consuming.

  
Okay, I admit it. There are on occasion, times when I can be a selfish bastard. I don't really like that about myself but hey I am only human. Or Kryptonian. You know what I mean.

  
Chloe is still in worry mode which leaves me in charge of the thinking, which is not our usual arraignment. Not that I'm anything remotely close to stupid, it's just easier to let Chloe do all of the heavy lifting. And it makes her feel special, who am I to deny her that? Today however it looks like I'm going to have to figure this one out for us. So this is Lois right? The only other constant about her besides her need for caffeine and completely lack of boundaries, is her extreme attachment to her cell phone. Hell she's run several people over while on the damn thing and by several I mean at least two that I know about. And Shelby totally counts as a person.

  
"Chloe? Do you know if Lois had her cell on her?" I ask as calmly as I can. Chloe is about two inches away from panicking and I don't want to be the one who pushes her the rest of the way.

  
 "Yeah, Clark, of course she did." Chloe responds while giving me that patented Clark belongs on the short bus look she's mastered over the years. You know? I never noticed it before but that is kind of annoying. I mean I may have been kind of oblivious in the past when it comes to she who I refuse to think about today, but I'm not a total moron.  
           

"Good, we can just go to Oliver's apartment and use his equipment to track her GPS and we'll know where she is or at least where she was." Should I be insulted that Chloe looks as surprised as she does impressed?  
           

"Clark that's brilliant!" She exclaims as she leaps out of her chair and throw her arms around my neck. My glory only lasts about a second before she pulls back and shoot me a puzzled frown."Wait how do you know Oliver has the equipment to track Lois's GPS?" Read: How do you know something I don't know?  
             

"That's how he found her that time she got kidnapped while they were dating." I inform her feeling slightly smug that for once I know something she didn't know first. It was a good feeling, one I could get used to.  
           

I was still basking in her appreciation of my intellect as it did not happen all that often when Chloe shot me the look again, the one she gets when I she's calling me a BDA in her head.  
           

"So?" she asks impatiently.  
           

"So?" I respond, not quite sure what it is I'm missing this time around. Well being the smart one was nice while it lasted.

"Lets go!" She demands impatiently as she snatches up her purse and pushes past me. You know there are times when I think she'd spent just a little to much of her life around Lois. Whatever the "Lois Factor" might be, I think it's starting to rub off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Then...**

Lois had to stop, the dark and the silence combined with her throbbing head was getting to be just a bit too much. She'd thought that when she'd found the exit to the room BizSaw was keeping her and it was unlocked that her problems were over. Wishful thinking on her part, turns out.

She'd been wandering the darkened corridors for hours without any hint that there was a way out. The air was just as stale out here as it was back in the room she'd been held and the few light switches she'd found had been dead. Dead that was a good description of this place, it might as well be a tomb. Her tomb if something didn't change soon. At this point she was fairly certain that wherever this place was it was underground. Way underground, like hidden military bunker or missile silo underground. She'd found doors lining the corridors but they had all been locked with the type of locks that don't have handles and you needed key cards to open. She also brushed up against quite a few observation windows out side of some of the rooms as she made her uncertain may through the dark by touch alone. Further confirming her suspicion that she was in some sort of subterranean military facility, wait. Make that an abandoned subterranean military facility. Which meant that it wasn't the sort of place that just had an exit.

These were the sorts of places that had tight security, very tight, the only way in or out would be a key card restricted elevator. Which kind of sucked as a she did not have a key card and even if she did there was no juice and no electricity meant the elevator wouldn't be working. All that added up to the fact that even if she did manage to find the elevator to the outside world in this blackness, as disoriented as she was, she'd still have to somehow pry the doors open and shimmy up god only knew how much elevator cable to reach the surface. Lois's knees bucked under her as she collapsed to the ground at the thought of what lay ahead. Her legs splayed out in front of her with her back against the cool of the tile covered walls. What was with all the tile anyway? She mused distractedly. This place must have been some sort of medical or research facility.

Tile in these places were always used to facilitate clean up, the clean up of what she really did not need to know. For once in her life Lois's abundant curiosity was taking a back seat to her need for survival. If she could mysteriously be whisked out of this place and never know just where it was she was being held she'd gladly make that trade. As it was she didn't think that short of a miracle she was getting out of this mess. Lois slumped over to she side and curled up for warmth. She really wished BizSaw had left her the pants she'd been wearing. While the air in this place was not cold, the floor was still chilly.

 _I just need to rest my eyes for a bit_ , she thought as she left them drift close. _Some sleep and it will be better_. An hour or so ago she wouldn't have dared but then again an hour or so ago she'd thought BizSaw was going to come back. Enough time had passed since then however, whatever else may be going on, she knew by now that he wasn't coming back. Whatever his game was it had been interrupted and she was here on her own. Not that she wasn't relived, because she was, very. A long death. alone in the dark may suck but a long death by torture was so not the better option. As she drifted off to sleep Lois could not help but wonder what the people in her life were going to think of her disappearance. Chloe would be devastated, of course. But she'd solider on, try to find answers that weren't there and eventually give it up and move on to the greater things Lois knew she was destined for. And Lucy. Would they even be able to find Lucy to tell her what had happened? The General, well he would grieve in his stoic way but she can't help but think he would probably end up blaming her for it, not only her own disappearance but the devastation it would cause to those who loved her. After all she was the weakest link in his eyes, the eternal fuck up in the family Lane.

Lois felt her dry eyes tear up a little at the thought, she'd really wished she'd gotten the chance to prove him wrong. To prove that Chloe was not the only one in the family meant for greater things. That was not going to happen now, she could admit it to herself, she was going to die down here. She was going to die and she'd never gotten a chance to tell him... Lois wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, this was so much harder then she'd ever thought it would be. "Damn it Clark." and then of course there was that.

**Now**

It must be nice for Oliver, all that money. Anything he ever wants or needs all he has to do is make a call. Not that I'm jealous of him or his money, I am just saying. Must be nice.

Chloe is over in his secret "Green Arrow" room, clucking her tongue and humming as she plays with the state of the art computer system he keeps there. She seems to have gotten over her worry but I know that is not really the case. Her heart rate is way too elevated for her to be anything other then one giant ball of stress. She is just trying to distract herself from the worry and guilt I saw in her eyes earlier, worry and guilt that she still has to explain. Not that I have asked. I can guess where the guilt comes from, actually an inanimate carbon rod could probably tell you where the guilt comes from.

Things between Chloe and Lois haven't been what I would call close lately and the strain is beginning to show. Chloe's been snipping at her for months and Lois, well Lois is getting more reckless in response which is not unexpected, it is her standard operating procedure. That was how she would handled the General, he'd disapprove and she'd rebel which led to move disapproval and then Lois would escalate, lather rinse repeat. As I said not unexpected behavior for hurricane Lane, I just never thought she'd be doing it with Chloe.

I know I should say something to try to fix this mess but I can't really make myself since I know this is pretty much my fault. I didn't mean to come between Lois and Chloe, it is the last thing in the world I would have wanted. Heck, I did not even think it was humanly possible, but then Chloe found out my secret and it just sort of snowballed from there. Now we're here and I'm not quite sure how to fix it, though sadly, I have ot confess it has not been a priority. What does that say about me?

You know, I really don't want to think about that.

"Found her!" Chloe exclaims suddenly, breaking into my thoughts. Thank god.

"Where is she?"

"This is weird." She looks baffled. Chloe turns to look at me, as if I had the answer to the question she's not even asked yet. "She's at Atlantis. Or at least her phone is."

"Atlantis...As in?"

"As in the same club you made you second home when you were living the wild life the summer you spent as Kal." Chloe replies as she cocks her head to the side, contemplating me and my wicked past I guess.

"And this is significant how?" Sometimes I think I'm never going to live that one down.

"It's just sort of weird. I mean it's way too public a location to meet a source, if she was on a story and if she was there on her own time...Well Atlantis is not the place Lois would spend her down time."

"Why?" Not that it really matters but I can't help feel a little bothered that Lois would be that adverse to my chosen stomping grounds. Okay Kal's not mine, still six of one..." Too trendy?"

"Well trendy's not really the word she used... cheesy and lame where the actual adjectives, plus she thinks the drinks are over priced and watered down. And there are no pool tables." 

Cheesy and lame? The things I never knew about Lois Lane. "Clark, not that I don't enjoy discussing the relative merits of Metropolis hot spots with you, but don't you think you should..." Chloe makes a half shooing, half whooshing motion with her hands. Because obviously I am too dumb to understand what she's saying without the visual aids. Jeez...Wait Kent, Focus. Lois.

"Right" I reply before speeding off to Atlantis. On the plus side at least I know how to get there, as opposed to having to wait for her to map quest it for me. Within seconds I'm there, in the light of day I have to admit it does look sort of cheesy. Not quite the cool and edgy place it was in my memories. Did I really spend so much time here? Great, not only am I am ass when I'm on red K, I'm a ass with no taste. I flip open my phone and call Chloe back at Oliver's.

"Did you find her?" she asks immediately upon answering.

"Not yet, where exactly is her phones GPS signal coming from Chloe?"

"Here wait a second, I need to link up the GPS tracking system with one of Oliver's Satellites and I should be able to pinpoint exactly where she is."

She hums softly to herself as she works her magic. Lois does the same thing when's working on a story, I wonder if it's genetic. Wait, did she jut say she was hacking into a Queen Industries satellite? "Uhhh Chloe, does Oliver know you can do that with his system?" Please say yes, please say yes.

"No, but if he didn't want me to then he really should not have given me the access codes. Right?"

"right." Sometimes Chloe's flexible hacker ethics really make my head hurt. "So where is the signal coming from?"

"It's out back by the dumpsters, the north east corner. "

"Thanks" I speed around back and it's deserted. Not that I was expecting to find Lois here. I mean unless it was behind a locked steel door tied to a chair, this is Lois after all. I give the building behind me and the surrounding area a quick once over with the X ray vision. Nope, no Lois but... "There's no sign of Lois here Chloe but I found her purse. I'm heading back to the clock tower." I let her know before I hang up. I feel uneasy as I walk over to where her purse was discarded halfway under one of the dumpsters behind the club. As I crouch down pick up the messenger bag that's practically been an extra appendage for Lois ever since she'd started working at the Planet my vague worry rapidly escalates to something that is close cousin to Chloe's panic.

Leaving her bag here, it's sloppy. Guys who make some disappear for a living usually don't leave clues just laying around. Something about this feels, deliberate. Though how it could be I have no idea, even so it feels almost as if whoever did this left her bag to be found. This is just weird. I'm about to stand and head back to the clock tower when I spot something that makes the breath stop in my chest. It's a dark stain on the wall at just about where Lois's head would be and I really don't need to get any closer to know its blood. The copper stink of it is sharp in my nostrils and I feel a little sick to my stomach. I have no reason to think that it's Lois's but that really doesn't matter. I just know, it hers. I get back to Oliver's apartment and I silently hand Chloe the bag. I don't say anything about the blood I found.

I know I should, but I can't even wrap my own head around what the ramifications might be, I can't imagine what it's going to do to Chloe. Not that she notices my preoccupation, she completely on task right now. She rifles thought the bag until she comes up with Lois's cell. She doesn't even glance up at me when she finds it but she does take a moment to explain what she's doing as she flips the phone open and begins to scroll though whatever it is she finds there.

"I'm checking her previous calls and texts to see who she's been talking to and if I am lucky..." Chloe's voice trails off as she works then. "Yes!" She finally looks up at me and I realize for the first time that she was deliberately not looking at me to keep me from seeing the fear in her eyes. "Lois has a text from her contact telling her to meet them Saturday night out back at Atlantis." Chloe goes back to investigating the phone while I stand around feeling useless. "And the text before it is also from the same number, it's telling her to check her email. Clark.." Chloe begins but I'm gone before she can finish her sentence. It takes me about five minutes to retrieve Lois's laptop from her apartment.

Most of that is spent searching for the damn thing, whatever else was going on, Lois was serious about not having anyone find it. I finally have to x ray the place before I find where she's stashed the thing. It's hidden under a couple of floor boards that I know were not lose last time I was at the apartment. I get back to Oliver's and Chloe wastes no time in accessing Lois's email account. I don't know how she got the pass word and she refuses to tell me what it is but as she types it in she gets the closest thing to a smile I have seen on her all day. So there it is, the bait. I watch over Chloe's shoulder as she pulls up file after file on Luther Corp and project 33.1. Lois would never have been able to resist.

"Lex..." I say it through ground teeth. Is there no one in my life safe from him? I swear to god if he's hurt her..

"Clark I don't think it's Lex." Chloe interrupts my revenge fantasy with a certainty that I really wish I could doubt, but years of experience has taught me she's seldom off on these things. But still...

"How do you know it's not Lex?" I demand, because if it is him this time I going to see to it he never hurts another person I care about again. That blood stained wall is all the excuse I need.

"Lex owns the Planet these days, he doesn't need to kidnap Lois to kill any of her stories plus why would he send her this? And if he didn't... Well this stuff, while damning, is missing key elements that would tie 33.1 implicitly to Luthor Corp. It just doesn't add up."

"So if it's not Lex then who?" Is it a bad thing that I'm as disappointed as I'm relived? "Let me see if I can find the IP address this was sent from." An eternity seems to pass as Chloe does her thing and hacks her way into the server the email was sent from. "No way!" Chloe's face blanches and she turns her shocked blue eyes my way and I feel my stomach drop to somewhere around the vicinity of the earths molten core. This is not good. "Clark this was sent from the server at the Isis Foundation."


	7. Chapter 7

**Still Now**

fuck. fuck! How could this happen? How could I let this happen? What the hell does Lana's Lex stalking lair have to do with Lois's disappearance? I'm still wrapped up in what this information means when I get there, not really paying attention, which is why I don't notice the lady in question herself sitting at the banks of monitors she uses to watch Lex with.

  
"Clark!' It comes out as a surprised gasp as I speed in. Her eyes, eyes I thought I could see eternity in, are wide with surprise and spiked with fear. You'd think she'd be used to my sudden entrances and exits at this point. Did he slow things down for her? Was that why she loved him? What need did she have that he fulfilled? And why can't I see it? She still staring at me with those beautiful dark eyes and I can see the surprise is fading only to be replaced with weary resignation. Always with us it's the same dance no matter what you call the steps. Except not now, not today. If she crossed the line and hurt Lois then whatever we may have had is done. I will not let my love for her stop me from protecting my family, not again anyway.

  
"Lana." I go for earnest as I approach her, whatever suspicions I may have in the back of my brain this is still Lana and I can't help but hope that she has nothing to do with this. "Lana I need your help."

  
Lana rolls her eyes and turns back to her computers but not before I see a look of disappointment flicker across her face. "So I'm not good enough to wake up with but I am good enough to help you with whatever Kryptonian menaces you've unleashed this week." Her words are like a ice pick to my spine, god when did she get so bitter? "Sorry Clark I am all booked up kicking puppies and foreclosing on nuns and orphans to help you. Maybe Chloe has a few spare minutes. Oh wait what am I saying? It's Chloe, she always has time for you."

  
As our eyes meet in the reflection on the monitor in front of her, I can see her eyes narrow in anger and malice as she slings her barbs. I find myself asking the same question I did last night, how'd we end up here? But honestly Lana can be as big a bitch as she wants, I have more important things to deal with then us.

  
"Lana I know you and I are in a bad place right now but this is more important then us. Lois is missing and I need your help to find her." I plead with my eyes, begging her to put this behind us and focus on Lois. "Lana..Please."

  
Somehow, despite everything, I manage to reach her. She spins around on her seat and looks at me in shock and concern, her anger dropped in the face of the bigger picture. For now at least.

  
"What? How? Was it Lex? I warned her about him! Especially now that he owns the Planet, I told her he was dangerous." I can't help but feel relived, she's not faking it. The concern is real, she was not involved, thank God. Now I just need find out who else had access to the Isis mainframe.

  
"She met with a informant about Lex's 33.1 project Saturday and nobody has see her since."

  
"Clark that's horrible, but I don't see how I can help."

  
"Lana, you're the only one who can help. The person she was meeting contacted her from the Isis server."

  
"That's impossible! I'm the only one who has access to the system and I already tried to give Lois what she needed to take Lex down. And she refused because of journalistic ethics!" The rancor in Lana's voice surprises me. After all the crap she gave me about truth and honesty it's shocking she would wrap so much contempt around the word ethics.

"Lana are you sure you're the only one who's had access? There's no one else?" The answer has to be here, there's no where else to look.

"Of course I'm sure Clark the only person who even had the pass word is me and...well you."

"Me? But I don't have.. Wait. You mean _him_." And suddenly everything falls into place as my world falls apart. Who else would go through so much trouble to hurt someone I love? Damn him.

I turn away from Lana as I feel my body clench with rage, my hands curl into fists and my eyes burn, as my muscles strain with the need to pound him into dust. God, he died too easy. Lana grabs my arm and tried to pull me to face her. I turn to look down at her in surprise that she made it across the room without my noticing. The panic that floods her features as I glare at her is enough of a hint to how close I am to edge that I force myself pull back.

"Clark, you can't think I had anything to do with this! I didn't know! I thought he was you!"" She babbles in fear and guilt, her words spilling from her as she tried to regain the solid ground. Why the hell is she making this about her? I can't do this, not right here and right now, somethings are more important then our drama.

"Lana I can't do this with you right now! Lois's life is in danger and even with him gone every second counts. Who knows what he has done to her before we stopped him," I spit the words out at her like nails in our coffin.

"Then when Clark? We can't go on like this! We have to talk about us, about him!" We stare at each other in impotent rage, a stalemate that is only broken when my cell rings. There are times I could kiss Chloe. Not breaking eye contact with what's left of my hopes for the future I flip open the phone and try to not let the rage rolling though me show up in my voice.

"Chloe."

"Clark, I've been waiting for fifteen minutes! Have you gotten access to the mainframe yet? It's seriously fire-walled and we don't have time for me to hack it. I need you to log on and give me remote access."

"Sorry Chloe I've run into a small problem." Have we ever been a anything but a problem?

"Oh crap, Lana's there isn't she? " I can always count on Chloe to be five steps ahead of the game.

"Yes she is." My voice is flat and cold in a way I never thought it could be in regards to Lana. We've changed so much over the years, is this what growing up is? All of this disappointment?

"Did she have anything to do with..." I cut her off before she can finish the thought.

"No she didn't." This time around, but so much has changed, she has, we have, will I be able to say that next time? "Chloe, we have figured out who is responsible." Why am I telling her this? Does she need to know just how bad the situation really is?

"Who?" She asks in surprise, I don't think she thought it would be this easy either.

"Chloe--" This is a bad idea, if it is him and he has Lois, Chloe is one of the few people who knows just how bad it can get.

"No Clark you do not get to protect me from this! Not this time! This is Lois and she's my family, so you're going to spill your alien guts and tell me exactly what is going on. Who. Took. Her." She demands, her voice shaking with her own share surpassed emotions.

"Bizzaro." The name feels like a lead weight as I drop it.

"Oh god..." The phone clatters as it hits the hard wood floor of Oliver's loft.

"Chloe!" I feel a surge worry mixed with a fair amount of irritation. Why did I tell her? Why did she have to know? Why did she have to fall apart now? We do not have time for this!

"Ohgodohgodohgod..." I can hear her pleading over the line, her quite whispered prayer not meant for anyone one but the indifferent universe. The curse of super hearing, again, it means you can never ignore anyone's pain.

Lana's staring at me, her eyes filled with concern, her rage having partially abated when I told Chloe she was innocent, Well...Innocent of this anyway. God these days I'm so confused, I'm not even sure what innocent is anymore. Even the kids I run into seem to have way too many secrets to carry to qualify for that label.

"Chloe!" I beseech her again. "Please Chloe pick up the phone! I can't do this without you." I hear her scrambling to pick up the phone and I can hear the tears in her voice when she finally replies.

"I'm here Clark." Just barely.

"Good. Now tell me what to do."

"Right" I can hear it as Chloe pulls herself together though sheer force of will alone. She takes a deep shuddering breath before she continues and then when she does she's all business. "Okay. Since Lana's there this is going to be a lot easier. Have her log on the server and then plug in the flash drive I gave you."

"Right." I pull out the drive and hand it to Lana. " We need you to log on, then plug this into the mainframe." I can't believe I am trusting her with this. She can't seem to go five minutes without making the drama about her and Lois life is on the line but I don't see that I have any choice.

She gives me one last long look that for the life of me I can't seem to read. There was a time when she was an open book to me, now that book might as well be written in Farsi. Did I ever know what it said or did I only think I did? It's a moment so similar to so many in our past I feel an ache for what was lost. Then she turns away and does what I ask.  
We watch in silence as Chloe rips her way through the Isis mainframe with ruthless efficiency. All of Lana's secrets are laid bare, even the ones I didn't know about. So this is what marrying Lex Luthor does to someone, or at least this is what it did to her. This is what Lana saw in Bizzaro, herself. Her own darkness is what blinded her from the truth. She saw in him who she wanted me to be, someone like her. I'm sure there are people out there who would never become this tainted, who would never be capable of all of this no matter what their justification. Lois Lane for one.

Chloe's voice on the phone breaks the silence that has descend so thoroughly around us. "Okay I have found an entire set of files isolated from from the rest of the data, I'm going to try to access them. "

That would be when all hell breaks lose, or least it does on the computer in front of us. The flat screens all immediately go black and a piecing noise rings throughout the room. The sound is like red hot poker through my brain. I clutch my ears in pain as I double over in agony, Lana drops her knees beside me as I huddled on the floor in pain. She's screaming something at me but I can't hear her though the noise that feels like shredding my nervous system. Then, just when I think I am going to pass out from the pain, it's gone as suddenly as it came and a new sound fills the room.

"So Kal-El, you finally figured it out." I glace up to the computers now playing an Mp3 File in a cold distorted voice that I recognize on some level as my own. This is weird. "I'm sure it took you long enough. Did you have to have Chloe help you connect the dots? You never were one to figure things out one your own, always had to have your blond side kick to all of the heavy lifting even when we both know you more then capable of doing it on your own. To think, the son of the great Jor-El has been reduced to this. Then again you never did see what was right in front of you, well at least not before it was too late. But I get ahead of myself." Here he pauses and chuckles in amusement, a harsh sound that rubs against my ears like sand paper. " So tell me Kal-El or should I say Clark? You always did prefer your human name. Tell me, have you misplaced something?"

Suddenly the screens flickers to life and all I wish for in the world was for them to go dark and to un-see what's before me. It's a photo, of Lois, taken with a night vision camera. Her wrists are bound and she's hanging by them from a chain in the middle of an empty room. The room is large and the walls are tiled, it looks like an operating room or something similar. Her head is slumped forward and her hair obscures her face but I would know her anywhere. Then that picture is replaced by another, only this time her jeans and jacket are gone. All she's dressed in is a tank top and her underwear. Then another shot this one from behind, then again, another shot from behind only this time with a extreme close up of the lower half of Lois's anatomy. Shot after shot fills the screen, some taken from further away, some from mere inches away from her unconscious form. With each shot I feel a little piece of me die. I never in a million years thought I would see Lois reduced to this and it is all my fault. I know it, he did this because of me. Because of my....

"oh my God." It's a choked out whimper from my left. I glace at Lana for the first time since the slide show began and I see that her expression has became one of nauseous horror. "I didn't know..." This time when she says it all of her righteous anger is gone replaced by a revulsion that I can see goes all the way to the bone. Suddenly she's scrambling away from me and out of the computer room and away from the voice of her lover and the proof of what he did. I can hear her vomiting from where I sit on the floor but I can't bring myself to go comfort her. There are somethings even I can't fix.

I glance back at the screen and see the slide show is still going on, thankfully Lois does not get any more naked.

"Do you like what you see Kal-El? Sorry I mean Clark. See what you have been denying yourself all this time?" Random shots now, close ups of Lois's various body parts. "Those breasts, the legs, that ass and all the rest of her that has been haunting your dreams? Well I'm going to make those dreams a reality. Those dreams and so many others. I wish you could be here for every whimper, every scream. I wish you could smell her fear perfume the air and taste the first drop of blood I wring from that perfect body. Do you think she will beg, Clark? Beg for her life? Beg me for mercy? Maybe even just beg me to stop. I find I want her to, to hear that smug defiant voice broken and begging. How about you? I know you've thought about it. Perhaps not in the same context but then again I'm not quite you. At least not yet. " Each syllable is like a hammer into my gut, he's reaching out and raking red hot coals across everything I hold dear. "Maybe right before the end, when she'd broken and begging, I'll turn the lights on. What do you think Clark? Do you think she'd like that? One last look at her so called best friend before she dies? See I'm capable of mercy, just like you." Then the teasing cruelty is gone and it's replaced with a cold, dark, rage. "You have never appreciated what you had in front of you Clark so now I am taking it all away. Lois and Lana as well. She loves me Clark and not you. Both of them are mine and Lois is about to pay the price of your neglect. You will never save her."

I'm not quite sure how it happens but my fist is now embedded in the monitor. I just remember this over whelming fury then everything went red, then black and now my hand is lodged in several thousand dollars worth of computer equipment. Lana comes rushing back in at noise and I look at her in surprise. Chloe's calling out for me from the cell I dropped at the beginning of this nightmare and all I can think of is, I wonder what Lois would say if she were here?

"Oh my God Clark, are you alright?" Lana's doe eyes are filled with concern as she rushes forward to help me extract my appendage from its electronic imprisonment.  
Yeah, not that.

"Lana I'm fine. " I shrug off her concern, her every action reminding me of everything it's not. I nod in the direction of my cell on the ground. "Lana go tell Chloe everything alright." Lana shoots me one last look filled with her limpid concern before turning to do as I bid. I hear her confer with Chloe as I pull my hand free, as I ease drop on their conversation I feel at least one of my fears recede. Apparently Chloe did not get the same feed as we did, to her the connection was severed. She had no idea of what Lana and I saw and thankfully Lana is displaying enough tact to know that she didn't need to.

I have my hand free and turn to Lana to take back the phone.

"Clark? Lana told me what happened! I am so sorry! I did not mean to crash the system, Lana says there is no way we will able to reboot. I screwed everything up." Her agony and guilt are palpable things.

"Don't talk that way Chloe, without you we wouldn't be where we are. Did you get anything before the crash?" I keep my voice even as I try to black out the last five minutes from my mind. Not that it was possible, there are some things you can never unlearn.

"Let me see, maybe I can... Okay it looks like I managed to save some information before it all went to hell. So Biz, what did you use Lana's backdoor to find? And that sounded a lot less dirty in my head. That's weird. It seems he was really interested in Luthor Corp real estate? I mean I would've thought he'd been looking for bank accounts or blackmail, not abandoned buildings."

"Wait Chloe, abandoned buildings?" No, it can't be this easy.

"Yeah he has the specs on several abandoned Luther corp facilities saved as private files."

"Chloe I'll be right there I think you may have just found her."


	8. Chapter 8

**Then...**

  
Lois was ripped from the blessed unconsciousness as uncontrollable spasms wreaked her battered body, dry heaving burning bile from her empty stomach up her throat. It seemed to go on forever, with each heave the pain in her head would throb in a counter-point to the agony gripping the rest of her body and left her feeling like she was tied in knots. When the dry heaves finally ended she lay on the floor breathless and shaking with exhaustion, there was not a single part of her that did not ache all the way dwon ot the bone.

  
_Yeah, not the best way to wake up. Where the hell am I?_ The cold tile of the floor seeped into her awareness as did the fact that wherever she was it was encased in darkness. _Nice, at least they could have left the lights on._

  
The tile scraped against her bare legs as she forced herself to her hands and knees and crawled away from her sick. _Did I go out drinking last night? Whose bathroom am I in and where the fuck in the door?_

  
She managed to crawl about ten feet before collapsing again on the floor. _Okay, this is either the biggest bathroom I've ever been in or this is not in fact a bathroom._ Lois rolled on her back and winced as her position brought a bright, new, sharp pain to her attention.

  
 It was a deep stabbing pain that made her labored breathing even more difficult then it had been before. Lois shifted gingerly to her side and let out a relived sigh as her new position brought some relief. _So not in a bathroom, cracked ribs, and oh look I'm practically naked. Where's Clark Kent when you need him? Clark...._

 It was like a blow to her already abused stomach. _That's right, no Clark Kent because he won't be able to find me this time, no one will._ A shuddering breath escaped her dry cracked lips as the previous however many hours made their brutal re-acquaintance with her memory. _And just when I really could use one of his inexplicable last minuet saves, his preposterous explanations included. Ya know, I'm going to miss that._

  
Lois thoughts drifted from her epiphany about the farmboy to the farmboy himself, who despite the odds had become such a fixture in her life. It was funny, it was one of the few rules she lived by. Don't put down roots, don't get too attached and here she was, most likely at her end, guilty of both.  

Smallville, the man as well as the town, had wormed their way past her previously impenetrable defenses and had come to define everything she didn't even know she believed in. Despite her best efforts and an amount of denial that could keep the Pentagon in business for another millennium she could admit it now. The was no one to hurt here, no Chloe or Lana to betray. No General or Martha to disappoint, here in her dark tomb it was safe to finally admit the truth that she would never admit out in the light.   
           

_Stupid dorky farmboy_.... Lois rolled her dry and burning eyes and had to choke out a laugh past her bruised and abused throat at the mess she was in. _Of all the things I'm going to regret and it's not making him **my** stupid dorky farmboy that won't go away... _  
           

The dull throbbing in her head was making a comeback and with it the unconsciousness she'd so briefly escaped. _No I'm not ready yet...This is not how I expected it to be, I always thought there'd be more...More time, more chances to get it right, more opportunities to finally say everything that I've not been able to for the past four years... Just, more._ It wasn't fair, then again life wasn't supposed to be fair, it just was what it was.   
           

The throbbing was filling her head and with each pulse she could herself being dragged further and further away from her life. Lois tried to hold on for as long as she could but she was so tired. Her life danced before the backs of her eyes, playing out everything that was and would now never be.   
           

Freak lightning strikes, car crashes, corn fields and naked farm boys. Martha Kent's warm simile and Jonathan's proud blue eyes looking at her in way she'd always wished her father would. The way her mother smelled when she got ready to go out, a mix if cigarettes, hair spry, and Chanel no 5. Shelby, dust and the loft where she'd spent far more time than she'd ever admit, talking about life and looking at the stars. Chloe's bright grin fading as she watched what was happening between the two people closest to her in front of a dunk tank. Smallville ditching her on prom night and being surprised at how disappointed she was.  
           

Watching as the sky fell on Smallville. Soft snowfall in a cemetery, feeling equally broken and helpless before those who were even more broken around her. Palaces of Ice and dreams of heaven, feeling warm and safe and like she was someplace where she belonged. Ollie and really letting herself fall for the first time and what losing that meant. Wes. Her first byline and kissing Grant in the supply closet at the Planet, thrilled with the forbidden and wishing he was someone else, even if she wasn't quit clear on who she wanted that someone else to to be.   
           

Clark Kent rolling his eyes at her abuse, smiling at the loud mouth and attitude that forced most people away. His way of always being there when she needed him and his habit forcing his way in when he was least wanted. Plaid, work boots and broad shoulders she'd trained herself not to notice anymore, along with the killer smile and deep blue eyes. The feeling of his lips on hers when she was sure they'd never kissed, at least not that she remembered. His quite strength and the feeling that he always had her back. Lois tried her best to hold on to these things, to fight back the night that was claiming her, but in the end she had to face the fact that there were times when even Lanes can't win.   
  
And then everything was gone.   
  
**Now**  
  
Of course it was the last place on Chloe's the list. An abandoned project 33.1 facility in the Utah badlands, buried underground far away from the light of the sun that he hated. I have to rip the doors off the elevator to get in. I wonder how he got access to this place? Were the codes in Lana's files along with everything else related to Lex?   
           

The air rushes past me as I free fall down the elevator shaft, I hit the ground with enough force to crack the concrete under my feet and raise a cloud of dust around me. I glance upon at the doors in front of me and am surprised to see them open. As I exit the shaft I use my x ray vision to try and locate the room where he was keeping her. Don't worry Lois, it won't be much longer now.   
           

My heart stops in my chest when I finally find her in a corridor at the very back of the facility. She looks so small and broken, curled on her side, her long chestnut hair   
falling over her face. Am I too late? I feel my heart clench and my lungs tighten at the thought, oh god.... No wait this is Lois Lane. I categorically refuse to believe she is.. is... Nope, never going to happen. It can't. It just can't...   
           

I kneel down next to her and brush the hair out of her face, I always forget just how soft it is. I'm listening closely as I can as try to find her heart beat, something I should have done when I found her but as too damned scared to even try because of what I might not find. For one long moment I stop breathing.   
           

Please...Just don't let me be too late.   
           

Then there it is, slow and very weak, but it's there and my knees almost buckle in relief. Some how, some way Lois had held on long enough for me to get there. I brush tears out of my eyes and carefully gather her into my arms. She shifts slightly at my touch but she doesn't wake up. I quickly look her over using my x ray vision, even though it feels wrong to to it, she'd been violated enough already. But I need to know how badly she's hurt so I can judge how fast I can move while getting her out of here.   
           

God it's worse then I thought. It looks like her scull is fractured on top of all of her other obvious injures, along with some cracked ribs and separated shoulder. Damn, Bizzaro did not die slow enough. My entire life I have always been taught that you have to see the good in those around you even if they seem irredeemable, but this... That he did this to Lois, I don't think there is hell painful enough for him. I can feel my jaw clench and my eyes burn as I try to control the rage I feel ripping though me.   
           

No this is not how to fix this. Me, going there, getting all self righteous and angry, is not going to accomplish anything other then delaying my getting Lois to a hospital.   
           

Holding her as close and as gentle as I can, I'm about to move when it hits me for the third time in the last two days, Lois scent. That mix of fruity shampoo, sweat and the ineffable component that makes it Lois and marks the world around her so indelibly. I need to remember this, right here, right now. What is important to me and my life. No matter what else I may do, where I go or what happens, I swear to god I'm never letting anyone hurt her like this again.   
           

I brush my lips against her hair and try to find the words to let her know that her ordeal is over. "It's all right Lois. I'm here, I've got you." And then I get the both of us the hell out of there.   



	9. Chapter 9

**After**  
  
I watch her as she flips her way madly through the channels, ruthless hunting down the one program of the lot that was capable of holding her attention for more the ten seconds. She's so focused on the TV I feel it's safe for me to watch without her noticing. I've been here for a good five minutes trying to figure out just what it is I'm going to say and still no luck. This is all my fault. I know that, but she doesn't and god, I hope she never will.

How do you explain to your best friend that your evil alien doppelganger kidnapped her with the intent to rape and torture her to death all because said evil alien doppelganger thought you were in love with her? And that the reason he thought that was because he had all of your memories but that's okay cause he was dead now thanks to your current girl friend, who he was sleeping with, because she just killed him with a piece of you blown up home planet. And oh, hey Lois? By the way? I'm an alien. Yeah that's going to go over really well.

So I watch her and try to keep the guilt rolling though me under control, something that is not at all helped by the sight of her. The entire left side of her face is one big bruise as is her left arm, the one in the sling, and I know from when I found her the theme is carried on throughout the rest of her body. I don't know how one person, one human being, could take so much damage and seem so.. Lois afterward. By all rights she should be something other then sitting there watching TV as if this were just any other Wednesday. She should be, I don't know.. Huddled in a corner somewhere eating her own hair. I know Lana would be, maybe even Chloe too, but not Lois Lane. It's going to take far more then a super powered alien serial killer to dent that armor. How does she do that? I mean she-

"Smallville, either get in to get out. Don't hover, it's rude." How did she know I was here? How long has she known I've been watching her? How mad is she? This is not going to be fun.

  
"Lois.. I didn't know..." I begin awkwardly, but she cuts me off.

"Know that I could see you standing there all broody and intense? Or that I look so damn good in a hospital gown? Cause ya know, I do." She teases me with that Lane grin that seems to hold all of the laughter and joy in the world. I can't help but smile back, I can never help but smile back at her.

"Lois, didn't the doctor mention something about resting and I don't know, not talking? Because if he didn't I am sure it was just an oversight on his part." The past four years have taught me a thing or two about the not so gentle art of verbal combat she specializes in.

"Cute, Kent. really cute. Don't you know you're not allowed to mock the injured? That's right up there with no wheelchair races as far as hospital protocol goes." Dammit, she's right. Why am I doing this? I shouldn't be arguing with her, she's been through hell and all I care about is getting my shots in. What kind of bastard am I? I really don't know these days.

She's frowning at me, why is she frowning at me?

"Smallville, I was kidding!" She informs me with one of those eye rolls I didn't even know I missed. "Ya know? Kidding?" She raises her eyebrows over her gorgeous, if exasperated, hazel eyes. "That thing that friends do when things get too real and they want to lighten the mood? You know the same exact thing we have been doing since almost the day we met? You remember! What are you being so weird? This is our thing!"

  
Why am I being so weird? I can't help the grin the spreads over my face as she lectures me on the specifics of our relationship. She's right, this is our thing. And really right now there is no reason for us, me, to be like this. I walk over and pull up a chair next to her hospital bed.

"Well okay then," I tell her still smiling. "What are we watching? I mean bedsides your ADD in action?"

"Well currently we are lamenting the pathetic state of the Smallville Medical Center's cable package. Now that is a tragedy! This?" She waves her free hand over the battered side of her body. "this is a Tuesday." She grins at me and while I still cringe at the thought of what happened to her I have to grin back.

"That's some Tuesday."

"Eh," she shrugs casually. I don't know where it comes from but suddenly I'm furious with her. All the risks all the times she has ended up here and she still can't seem to get it in her head that maybe this might be a bad thing? God she was so Lois! I am standing up and yelling before I can stop myself.

"Lois how is it you can be so...so... casual about this! You were kidnapped and tortured! Look at what he did to you! How can you just...." I am standing over her yelling, all of my helpless rage I'd felt over the last two days suddenly pouring out on the one person I should be treating with kid gloves. But I can't stop myself, this is real and for once in her damn life Lois Lane is going to-

"Uh yeah, about that... So Clark the thing is um..Bizsaw did do this to me. I sort of, kind of, did." She's looking up at me with embarrassed, guilt filled eyes and I know she's telling the truth.

What? I am gaping at her unable to speak, what is she? How? 

"See the thing is when Bizsaw, that's what I'm calling him by the way, see when he had me I came up with this really great plan to escape but maybe I perhaps did not think it quite so through as I should have..." She looking up at me with slightly sheepish look as her teeth worry away her bottom lip. damn why do I always find that so sexy, err... I mean distracting? Wait, focus Kent!

"So, the separated shoulder?"

"me"

"The cracked ribs?"

"me again."

"The scull fracture?"

"Uh.,..yeah that one was a team effort, but all the rest? Me. See I should have planned my landing slightly better."

I sit down again staring at her in shock. I can't believe this, she almost killed herself trying to escape. If she'd just stayed put I probably could have rescued her with out her ending up here. I have to chucking it just so Lois, she can't ever wait on anyone or anything. 

She's frowning at me again. Though this is a different kind of frown, this one is more in the lines of Lois talking herself into doing something she really doesn't want to do. The in an instant her mind is made up, she's dropping the remote and reaching out to grab my arm, for once the Lane bluff gone in favor of some emotion I can't quite read.

"Look Clark I know how serious this is, believe me. I'm well aware that I used up just about all of my good luck for like the next ten thousand years getting out of this one relatively intact." Her eyes darken a shade as the emotions gripping her turn it up a notch and her hand on my forearm tightens. "I know what happened is a big deal and that it's going to be with me for a long time, but this? You, me, us? Our thing? It's the only thing keeping me sane. I need this or otherwise I'm going to end up huddled in a corner eating my own hair." She gives one of those definitive Lane nods to punctuate her statement before releasing my arm and going back to watching exactly 3.2 seconds of what every channel the apparently pathetic Smallville Medical Center cable package is offering.

I don't know what say, I really don't. It's times like this where I feel completely helpless, truly helpless and it's worse then anything I ever feel under the effects of krytonite. She does this to me all the time, rendering me helpless and silent with the depths of her honesty. For all that I believe in telling the truth, my life has been defined by lies for so long that when I get hit with actually for real truth it completely shuts me down. I know I can't tell her my truth but why do I have to repay everything she confides in me with platitudes and lies? Lois must sense my discomfort because she shoots me another look out of the corner of her eyes.

"Look Clark I am dieing for a caffeine fix, could you see if you could wrangle us up some coffee?"

"Lois I don't know, is caffeine good for serious head traumas?" Coffee is she serious?

"Smallville, this is not something you get to argue about, I am the one in the hospital bed and I am the one who will kill the very next person who walks though that door to take even one more drop of blood from my already anemic veins. This is your opportunity to save lives Kent, I need coffee." 

Okay she has that slightly homicidal looks she gets on occasion, so I guess she is serious. But she's weak and doped up on pain killers some maybe I can get her to compromise.

"Decaf?"

"Sigh..... Fine but bring an epic amount of sugar to fortify for when Nurse Ratchet comes back drain me dry. I swear that woman has the hands of Doctor Mengela."

"Done." I agree as I get up and make my way to the door, figuring out just where I am going to get Lois her coffee from. While on one hand there are several vending machines lurking around the premises I also know that stuff has the taste and consistency of roofing tar. I'm debating between the Talon and someplace a tad more exotic (benefits of super speed and all) when Lois calls out to me.

"Hey Smallville?" Her voice is so small and uncertain, not her usually bellow, that I turn to her immediately, terrified that some thing's wrong

But she looks fine and offers me a soft affectionate smile. "thanks." 

This is new. That smile, it makes the knot of tension I'd been carrying around with me for what seems forever just meant away. That's new too. When did a smile from Lois do that to me? It's how I always imagined Lana's smile should make me feel and yet never did save for the few brief moments before we actually ever dated. I really can't handle all of the things that are being triggered in my head by that smile. Things I probably should have looked at a long time ago but never found the strength to. And this time's not going to be any different. Between Bizzaro's comments and everything else that has been gong on for the last week I really can't deal with this right now, so I fall back on the old stand by for when things get to real with us. Thank god for snark. 

"For the coffee? Or being you eternal errand boy?" I grin at her and throw in a pair of raised eyebrows to under line my jibe at her assumption that she is, was and always will be the boss of me.

"I don't know, I just have this feeling that I should be thanking you." She shrugs and her smile shifts to slightly rueful. 

"Don't worry about it Lois." I tell and head out to acquire some of the black gold Lois fuels her life one. And I can't help but think that maybe just once it's not so bad being Lois Lane's errand boy.

My name is Clark Kent and this is my life, and you know? For once I really don't mind.  



End file.
